Life's Little Crossroads
by Cherished Tenshi
Summary: Their paths are always crossing, linking with each other, gradually creating bonds that could shatter with the tiniest mistake. But hey, who said that life-after-death or death full stop had to be easy? LiveJournal 1sentence challenge, Neku/Joshua friendship.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own _The World Ends With You_; that privilege goes to Square-Enix and Jupiter.

**A/N: **First TWEWY fic, yay. As I've already specified in other occasions; I've never actually played the game, although I've done an awful lot to research it. This is the 1sentence challenge over on LiveJournal, but it isn't official, since I haven't gone over and asked for the prompts first before nabbing them; most of these _are _one sentence, but there are about five or so in which I just decided to write full paragraphs for. Please don't shoot me?

Also, I have another TWEWY-centric story in the _Kingdom Hearts _archives called _Of Skinny Behinds and Dresses; _check it out? *Is so not shamelessly self-prompting her own stuff, how dare you suggest such a thing ;P*

**Credit: **To _Inita _for inspiring me with her own take on this challenge, only with Neku/Shiki; and it has actual romance in it (called _Threading into the Heart)_! Amazing, I know! Also, to _Infamousplot _for letting me steal pieces of her headcanon, even if I didn't ask beforehand, and getting me into TWEWY in the first place. Both of you rock!

**Warnings: **Spoilers for the whole game. Also, the f-word is used in prompt 032. Romance in prompt 002... and that's it. So much for a pairing. DX Rated T for language, like damn and hell. Lots of headcanon not explained.

Now I'm gonna shut up and just let you read it.

* * *

**. : life's – little – crossroads : .**

"_...Are often as simple as the pull of a trigger."_

* * *

**001 - Comfort**

Joshua was a comfort of sorts, Neku thought as the two of them relaxed in Mr. H's; no, _CAT's _café, overpriced coffee in one hand and headphones in other; he was probably the person that Neku related to and understood the most, even if he was a bit giggly... okay, _very _giggly.

**002 - Kiss**

Despite Joshua's continuous hints and winks, he wasn't expecting it when the younger boy yanked him by his collar and kissed him senseless.

**003 - Soft**

From the few times that the two of them had accidentally brushed against each other (because, for some reason, Josh flinched on the few times that Neku touched him, held his wrist, gripped his shoulder, just to make sure that he was _there_), Neku decided that Joshua had pretty damn soft skin.

**004 – Pain**

The physical pain and exhaustion that he was feeling was nothing compared to the pain of seeing the one person, the _one person who he understood_, aim an unshaking gun at him with nothing more than _that _smug smirk plastered onto his face.

**005 – Potatoes**

"Did you know that the reason for the severity of the Irish Famine in 1845 was due to a disease destroying all of the potatoes, which for most of the population, was their only source of food?" Neku had just looked at Joshua blankly as the smaller (ha!) boy leaned back in his chair and continued with a smirk, "As well as the British government refusing to help out, but that's beside the point." "What the _hell_, Josh?"

**006 – Rain**

Even with the rain pouring down around them like bags of sand, Neku's hair still retained it's spiky look, while Joshua's had fallen around his head like a mangled lion's mane; needless to say, Joshua was not pleased at all.

**007 – Chocolate**

The summer heat had made Neku's chocolate bar melt into a gooey mess on his fingers, and then, _of course_, Pink just _had _to be walking past and see what had happened; the jokes about poor little Blue needing a dapper hadn't ended until Neku (_somehow_) stole Pink's beloved phone and threatened to drop it through the aquarium in Dead God's Pad._  
_

**008 – Happiness**

Whatever small, tiny, barely-even-there (_shouldn't_ be there) happiness that Joshua had been feeling melted away when Neku turned his back on him and stormed off, his words ringing clearly in his ears, "_I hate you."_

**009 – Telephone**

The image of Joshua happily chatting away on one of those ancient telephones (with Mr. H on the other end) made Neku receive several strange looks due to his loud laughter.

**010 – Ears**

"You must have massive ears underneath those headphones, dear; I don't see why else you would wear them." "P-Pink! No I _don't!_"

**011 – Name**

When Neku learned that Joshua had named his first cat Shio, he slammed his head against the table repeatedly, and then slammed Joshua's down as well. Joshua got back by naming his next cat (when it would stop attempting to claw him) Neku.

**012 – Sensual**

Judging from the wide smirk on Joshua's face, and the horrified expression on Shiki and Rhyme's faces (Eri's looked a bit gleeful, while Beat was just plain confused), Neku didn't want to answer Joshua's question of what sensual meant.

**13 – Death**

For Joshua, death was nothing more than a short blip, a sweet, blissful rest before he had willingly entered the Reapers' Game; for Neku, it was terrifying, the thought of never seeing any of his friends again, being thrust into the dark unknown that dwelled after life and before eternity.

**014 - Sex**

Shiki looked a little _too _disappointed whenever she had opened the door after hearing some rather suggestive noises from the two boys inside, only to find that they had been playing chess.

**015 - Touch**

After the Shibuya Game (as the few remaining Reapers, mainly Pinky and Lollipop, had taken to calling it; he still wasn't sure if Pi-Face had decided to add himself to the heap or not), Neku constantly, almost unconsciously touched everything that he could feel; he would grip Shiki's hand for longer than necessary, leave a lingering hand whenever he ruffled Rhyme's blonde hair, not shove Beat's suffocating arm off him whenever he declared that a bro hug was due; it reminded him that he was alive, that he was _real_, and that he wasn't in the UG; unfortunately for him, Joshua hated being touched.

**016 – Weakness**

The day that Joshua showed weakness was the day that Shibuya was screwed. This (along other reasons) was the reason that Neku flipped out when he found said blond-haired boy sprawled out on a sofa in WildKat, hot chocolate in one hand and damp cloth in the other, arm covering his tightly shut eyes.

**017 – Tears**

Joshua stared at the small, pink parcel in his hands as if it was a pig Noise. "Uh..." Stare. Neku scuffled his shoes on the pavement nervously. "S-sorry if..." Stare. "I found your birth records when I was bored the other day in school; I didn't know you were 108 today." Stare. "Uh... happy birthday?" Stare. "Josh, did I-" Joshua suddenly turned around, clutching the parcel tightly to his chest. He wiped at his eyes quickly. "N-no... it's just... this is..." "It's wha- hey, are you _crying?_" "D-don't be so stupid!" "Hey, if you are, you can-" "-I am _not!_"

**018 – Speed**

Neku used to be speedy in everything that he did before the Game, always zipping around from one CAT mural to another, never staying still, always moving. Although his teachers complained (and so did his grades), he was taking life easy now, learning to appreciate everything from the small amount of clouds bobbing around in the flawless sky to his closest friends.

**019 – Wind**

Neku was too busy trying to keep his bright pink umbrella from flying away in the furious wind to give a death glare at Joshua, who was failing badly at holding in his laughter.

**020 – Freedom**

Even with the maniacal Sho sprinting after behind him, gunshots echoing all around them as the citizens of Shibuya, Her people, all screamed and ducked for cover, Joshua only laughed at the sweet wind of freedom whistling in his ears; even if the Higher Ups would have his neck later, but for now, he would enjoy the moment (Sanae probably hadn't imagined him doing it _this _way), and hunt down his proxy.

**021 – Life**

It was with a foreign, sinking feeling in his stomach, watching Neku and his _friends laughing, _that Joshua realized, that even before he had died, he had never had that much of a life.

**022 – Jealousy**

"You're jea-" "I am _not _jealous!" Joshua slammed his coffee cup down onto the table with a lot more force than needed, glaring at the poor sunshine outside. Mr. H only shook his head, wiping his paint brush clean before he dipped it into a tin of fresh paint. "I'm just sayin'. It's pretty damn obvious, J. Just go and see them. They won't mind." Joshua's grip on the cup tightened, his knuckles turning white. "They _will_ mind. Neku hates me. All of them do. _Everyone _hates me." The expression on Mr. H's face softened as he jumped off from the ladder and laid a paint-covered hand on Joshua's shoulder. The boy was too fascinated with staring out of the window to notice, lost in his own thoughts. "_I_ don't hate you." "But you would put Shibuya ahead of me. You already have." ...How was he meant to answer _that?_

**023 – Hands**

Joshua's delicate and tiny hands completely hid his cruel and heartless side, while Neku's large hands showed off his personality perfectly; rough around the edges, but smooth and gentle in the centre, with a huge heart.

**024 – Taste**

Whenever Joshua managed to (unfortunately) get a taste of the infamous shio ramen, why the _hell _did he have to go and make noises like... like _that; _it was more than enough to put Neku off his dinner, no matter what it was.

**025 – Devotion**

There was a fine line between protecting someone and devoting everything you had to them; while Megumi had flailed over, got kicked in the head, and then chained to the 'devotion' side, Neku was staying very, very, very, _very_ firmly on the 'protecting' side of Joshua; if he _had _a side to protect, obviously.

**026 – Forever**

"It's going to be there _forever!_" Eri cried in horror, picking furiously at an angry red spot on her face, right between her eyebrows, almost like a flashing siren. Shiki shook her head and shooed Eri's fingers away, insisting that attacking it with her nails would only make it worse. "Stop it!" "But-" Neku glanced up from his music player, grunting, but then Joshua yanked it out of his hands and changed the song to classical. _Again._ Then, to make matters worse, he took one of Neku's headphones and planted it on his own ear very firmly as Eri and Shiki continued to argue over the bright spot ("But it's _still there!_" "Look, look, just put this cream on it!" "I don't _want _to put anything on it!" "_Eri!_").

**027 – Blood**

The smell of blood was still thick in the air, suffocating him even after Joshua dropped the gun from his shaking hand.

**028 – Sickness**

Mr. H had joked once that Neku and Joshua were so skinny that it should have been a sickness (which, for Joshua, it had been, but hush hush, no one needed to know that); he had been expecting Joshua's warning grunt, but not Neku's slamming the coffee cup down on the table, head dipped down low as his shoulders shook violently.

**029 – Melody**

The melody that was playing from Joshua as he sat alone at Hachiko, visible only in the UG (Mr. H had given Neku a pin to allow him to see the UG, and for some reason, _hear _other people's... music?) was so tragic that Neku wanted nothing more than to hug him and comfort him senseless, because when he really thought about it, Joshua had a pretty awful life.

**030 - Star**

The first time that Neku had decided to go out in the middle of the night to look for Joshua (because the prick had yet to show up, and he was getting sick of always waiting for him), torch in hand, he found him sitting down on the ground beside Hachiko, quietly looking up to the only star above.

**031 - Home**

Neku wouldn't have been too surprised if Joshua announced that WildKat was actually his home, what with the amount of times the two of them were dropping by there (and making Neku pay for all of the overpriced drinks).

**032 – Confusion**

The confusion on Neku's face soon turned to horror when he saw the blond-haired kid_ hold a fucking gun at him._

**033 - Fear**

Neku's worse fear was dying without having impacted the world, or telling his friends how much he loved them; Joshua's worse fear was that he would well and truly be alone.

**034 - Lightning/Thunder**

Joshua would rather die (oh, wait; he already was dead, eh) then admit that he was frightened of thunder; of anything that he couldn't control, really.

**035 – Bonds**

The bonds of trust and understanding that held them together, no matter how flimsy or delicate they were, no matter how easily they could shatter with the wrong words and actions, were bonds that Neku was still grateful for.

**036 – Market**

If there was a market for enormous dicks (and no, not _that _way, you sicko), then Joshua would be flying high and away with the most yen by _far._

**037 – Technology**

Neku's glee when Joshua had quietly admitted that he had no idea how a laptop worked could have been enough to light up the whole of Japan for a month; as it was, he took him aside and showed him how the buttons worked, and how smashing the keyboard repeatedly with his forehead wasn't going to be any good for the laptop.

**038 – Gift**

As payback and a small 'gift' for the cat incident, Neku had named his houseplant Joshua, so that he could say things like, "Oh, Joshua keeps falling over," and "Josh's looking a bit droopy today, isn't he?" Joshua's glare when he had found out through Rhyme would have made any other person drop dead, but Neku only laughed it off.

**039 - Smile**

Neku had never seen Joshua smile; not one of his smug, annoying, I'm-Better-Than-Thou smirks (which he did _all. Of. The. Time)_. but an actual, genuine smile.

**040 – Innocence**

Joshua was many, many, _many _things (backstabber murderer cold-hearted bastard trustful honest blunt jerk considerate sick friend), but innocent was _not _one of those things.

**041 – Completion**

The words, "This is for Shiki. This is for Shiki," were chanted like a mantra in Neku's mind as he struggled past yet another series of Noise; he just had to finish this week, then the two of them would be able to meet up at Hachiko, together... it would greatly help if he wasn't stuck with the most annoying, nagging, gay, prissy, stupid, girly, giggling person _ever_ as his _Partner._

**042 – Clouds**

Neku could have sworn that as he watched the clouds float by with Shiki, Beat and Rhyme, he saw Joshua's face in one of them.

**043 – Sky**

"They say that each star is a different world." Joshua pointed up to a small series of stars that were dashing across the sky, his violet eyes hidden by the darkness. Beside him, Neku turned to look at him curiously, leaning on his elbows. "Huh?" "They also say that each shooting star is a dying world." Neku looked at him for a few more seconds before he fell back onto the top of 104, shaking his head. "C'mon, Josh, I thought you'd know better than that. Each star's just a bundle of energy, like the sun is." Joshua looked away. "I know that, but the thought is... nice."

**044 – Heaven**

When Joshua had given Neku a vast collection of CAT's best artwork, Neku was not ashamed to say that he squealed like a girl and was in heaven.

**045 – Hell**

As a (seriously) screwed up version of a 'joke', Joshua had decided to get a realistic toy gun and point it at Neku the next time they were in the Scramble; needless to say, Neku had completely and utterly flipped the hell out.

**046 – Sun**

Neku was like the sun; a bundle of energy, always bright and warm, full of ideas and life, even if he tried to hide it, like a sun would attempt to sink behind clouds, but it would always have to reveal its radiance eventually.

**047 – Moon**

While Joshua was more like the moon; a shadow, always there, never gone, so many different faces and appearances, bumpy and uncertain, a pale imitation of the sun. And just like the rules of the universe decreed, the sun and the moon could never be together; they would always be opposites.

**048 –Waves**

Neku was honestly surprised that Joshua didn't have any sunburns yet from the extreme heatwave that had assaulted Shibuya (the kid was paler than those cheesy vampires Shiki and Eri had fawned over the other day); and then he rolled up his sleeves, revealing the most brilliant sunburn that Neku had ever seen.

**049 – Hair**

Eri and Shiki only exchanged looks and sighed together as Neku and Joshua began to childishly pull each other's hair, all the while throwing insults at each other. ("You're so not _cool!_" "Then I'm hot? I must say, I'm to-_don't pull there!_" "Don't even _think _about finishing that sentence!")

**050 – Supernova**

Like a supernova, Shibuya was brimming with potential, overwhelming Imagination and Soul; fashion designers, artists, dancers, authors... they were all there, shining brightly like the tiny stars in the sky. Maybe Joshua had never noticed them before, or maybe he had just been overwhelmed by the darkness that had been gradually creeping into the corners with its twisted claws, but it was all thanks to Neku that Shibuya was still in one piece.


End file.
